What Southampton coaches were spotted doing when they saw Rio Ngumoha on the ball for Liverpool

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Rio Ngumoha has been a surprise package for Liverpool this season.

The 17-year-old is one of England’s most exciting prospects, with the attacker even bagging his first Premier League goal during his debut against Newcastle.

In fact, Arne Slot was that impressed with him at the start of the season that he chose to register the youngster over Federico Chiesa for his Champions League squad.

The attacker started the game against the Saints on Tuesday, where Liverpool eventually came out as the winners.

Although he isn’t likely to start over Cody Gakpo all that much this season, the quality he showed at Anfield on Tuesday shows how much potential the youngster has to fulfil, with Southampton’s bench even celebrating when he didn’t choose to run down the byline.

Glen Johnson says Southampton’s bench celebrated when Rio Ngumoha chose to run on the inside

Although Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Southampton was hard fought, the fact that they’ve progressed to the next round of the Carabao Cup is the main thing that matters.

Several players among Liverpool’s first-team squad deserve to start each week, but due to the quality of players such as Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch, a lot of their fringe players don’t often get that chance.

When they do, however, it feels like they seize the opportunity with both hands, which is exactly what Ngumoha did.

And, after the game had finished, Glen Johnson was speaking live on ITV Sport and said that the Saints’ bench actually celebrated when Ngumoha chose to run on the inside, rather than towards their full-back.

“You could see Liverpool were trying to get him the ball as quickly as possible, but Southampton were clearly aware of his ability because they tried to double up on him every time,” he said.

“When he did come inside, the bench were clapping and almost celebrating because he wasn’t driving at the full-back. Every time he did, he beat them.

“He’s going to have to learn because people are going to be aware of his ability and will double up on him, and he’ll have to get used to it. If he is positive and drives at people, he is going to be hard to stop.

“For a young kid to keep wanting the ball at home is great to see.”

Rio Ngumoha still has a lot to prove to become a first-team regular at Liverpool

It’s undeniable that Ngumoha is an exceptional talent and Liverpool are lucky to have him.

However, for him to replace Gakpo in Slot’s starting XI, there are still a couple of areas of his game he needs to improve on.

One of them is physicality. Of course, the fact that he’s only 17 years old means that he won’t be as strong as some of his opponents who are in their 20s.

However, with him being under six foot tall, strength is going to be key for him to avoid being bullied off the ball.

His dribbling and passing ability are second to none, with the attacker looking like he’s been a first-team regular for years.

His shooting, however, could be improved. Indeed, he did bag a goal on his debut, but as he becomes a more regular feature in the team, he needs to prove that he can be as clinical as Gakpo.

At the moment, Slot is likely enjoying having an energetic youngster on the bench for now, but if he wants to rely on him in the future, these things need to be worked on as soon as possible.